Leonard Mausner earned a PhD in nuclear chemistry from Princeton in 1975, was a post-doc at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, and for 36 years was a scientist and program manager at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). During that time, Leonard made significant contributions to the science of accelerator and reactor isotope production. His outstanding leadership and creativity were responsible for development of isotope production methods at the High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) and the Brookhaven Linac Isotope Producer (BLIP) at BNL, providing isotope production technology to the community through the publication of more than 150 articles, and a wide range of isotopes through the DOE Isotope Program. He conceived several major upgrades of the BLIP facility thereby increasing the availability of isotopes used in research and applications. In particular, his leadership and technical skills have significantly contributed to the development of production of several medical radionuclides used globally for therapy and diagnosis of life-threatening diseases. Among these are actinium-225 (cancer therapy), xenon-127 (lung imaging), tin-117m (“theranostic” isotope for therapy and diagnostic imaging, and bone pain palliation), Sr-82/Rb-82 (cardiac imaging), Cu-67 (cancer therapy), and scandium-47 (“theranostic” applications). His contributions to isotope production technology include BLIP target facility designs (e.g., stacked targets to simultaneously produce multiple isotopes and the use of a single beryllium beam window in vacuum) that have been incorporated at accelerators around the world, and novel targetry and processing systems for the production of isotopes such as xenon-127 and iodine-131. He has helped educate future generations of scientists through his contributions to textbooks on isotope production and his mentorship of students, post-docs, and early-career researchers, and his participation in nuclear and radiochemistry summer schools at BNL. Leonard’s career has had a remarkable impact on Brookhaven National Laboratory, the DOE Isotope Program, and the international isotope community and we are all grateful for his service.

Leonard Mausner’s leadership and accomplishments within the Department of Energy Isotope Program

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.